Dipper and Mabel VS the Past
by The-Scripturient
Summary: When a trip to Gravity Falls to see their Grunkles ends up sending a 17 year old Dipper and Mabel, plus Pacifica, back in time, they think of it as the perfect opportunity to fix their Grunkles messed up lives. It'll be easy, right? Nope! Everyone knows that if you change the past, you change the future, and they might not like the future they come back to. Dipifica
1. Back to the Shack

Hey everyone! So, this is the first multi-chap fic I've done in a while, so I hope it works out! It's based on the Timeshift AU by artsycrapfromsai on Tumblr. Go check out her blog, she's literally the best artist ever. Anyway, this will have Dipifica. If you want updates on it( Like when it'll be updated) check out my Tumblr. I have a link on my profile.

Anyway, I'll try to update every Monday, but if life intervenes then it'll be by Wednesday every week. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

The rain wasn't ever going to let up, or at least that's what it seemed like. The dark gray clouds covered the sky, and seemed to go on for miles.

Dipper jammed the button for the windshield wipers again, annoyed that the automatic version had gone out literally a day before they left. He had to hit it manually every so often, and it was getting really annoying.

The car slowed to a halt at a red light, and Dipper glanced into the backseat for the hundredth time to check on Mabel.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even, but Dipper couldn't tell if she was asleep or just intently focused on the audiobook she had loaded onto her iPod that morning. He could just see her purple ear-buds sticking out among her short brown hair, and the blue iPod that was connected to them via a purple and blue cord was lit up, indicating that it was on.

He turned back towards the road as the light turned green, and eased the car forward. Drives like theses always worried him, especially during the rain. He had inherited his Dad's old car, and, while it was an impressive car, and he was having fun restoring it, it didn't work too well. He was always worried that it would slip off of the road during a rainstorm.

"You are now entering Oregon." A sign came out of the fog, and he smiled. They had been driving for a long time now, but that sign meant that it was almost over.

He glanced back at Mabel again, and rolled his eyes. She had promised to take half of the driving, but after she had put in her earbuds she knew that she wouldn't. She didn't really like driving anyway, but it was still annoying that Dipper had to take the entire drive to himself. He didn't even have her to talk to, because she was so determined to finish her audio-book.

He sighed as he took the exit that would eventually bring them to their destination. A small, sleepy town called Gravity Falls.

Dipper hadn't seen Gravity Falls since he was 12, mostly because he was a bit scared. Sure, he kept in touch with his friends and his great-uncles, but he had no desire to go back.

Now, though, his great-uncle Stanford was founding a college there, and he wanted Dipper to help him set it up, and maybe even teach there. Dipper had been intrigued. Aside from being a popular ghost-hunter with his own TV show, being a teacher was also one of his great dreams. So, after telling Mabel to pack her bags, the two set off to Oregon.

Dipper had been surprised when Ford had sent him the email, saying that he wanted Dipper to teach there. Dipper was barely out of college himself. He was only 17, but he had breezed through high-school so quickly that he went to college early, majoring in media production. He went back again for photography, too.

Mabel, on the other hand, had just graduated high school with honors. She was really smart, but, due to the fact that she had a big group of friends in the school, she wanted to take her time with her education. Now that she was done, though, she was designing her own line of designer sweaters.

"Mabel." Dipper called as they approached the Mystery Shack. "Mabel! Wake up..." He grabbed the wrapper from the burger they had stopped for and threw it at her.

Her eyes flew open, and she hit the pause button on her iPod before sticking her tongue out at her brother. "They were just about to kiss!" She complained, throwing it back at him.

He grinned. "Good. Too mushy." He replied playfully. "We're almost there. Start putting your stuff away." He told her, pulling a hard left as the next exit suddenly appeared out of the fog.

Mabel yelped as she fell to the right. "Be careful where you drive that thing, bro-bro!" She yelled as she righted herself.

"Sorry," He said. "the fog's so thick I can barely see." He slowed down the car so he could be more careful. "Is that better?"

"Yes. Thank you." She pushed her hair back and put in into place with a headband, and then pulled out two sweaters. "Which one should I wear? The green or the blue?"

"What about the pink?" He suggested, and Mabel's face lit up. She dove back into her bag and pulled out a pink sweater with a shooting star emblem on the front.

"A classic!" She held it out in front of her and gazed at it with starry eyes. "Nice choice, bro. Maybe you _do_ have some fashion sense!"

"Yeah, yeah, maybe..." He waved her off as they pulled up in front of the old house. "Put your stuff away. We're here."

"Oooh!" Mabel squealed. "Finally!" She pulled on the pink sweater and stuffed her iPod into her purse, then jumped out as the car slowed to a complete stop.

"Mabel, wait up!" Dipper yelled, grunting as he yanked all of the bags from the back of the car and then ran to catch up to her.

"Okay, here goes!" Mabel took a deep breath, smoothed down her hair, and then knocked on the door. They heard a creak from inside, and grinned as a gruff voice called out from inside.

"Who's there?"

"It's us, Grunkle Stan!" Mabel cried cheerfully, grinning at the peephole.

The door opened, and they were gathered up into a huge hug. Dipper dropped his bags as all of the air was squeezed out of him.

Stan finally let them go after he realized they were wheezing, and he grinned at them as they caught their breath.

His hair was grayer than it had been, although it had a silvery gleam. He was a bit more wrinkly, too, but other than that time had been good to Stan. He looked relatively the same as he had five years before.

"It's so good to see you kids!" His grin nearly split his face in two as he stepped to the left. "Come inside! Ford will want to see you kids too."

Dipper nodded, and picked up the bags again as they walked inside. Well, he walked. Mabel bounced happily, ever the source of energy.

"Ford!" Stan called loudly. A muffled reply came from upstairs, and he pushed them up the stairs.

"You kids can stay in the attic again, if ya want." Stan offered as he led them to their old room. "It's a bit dusty, but I sent point-dexter up there to clean earlier so it should be okay."

They rounded the corner, and suddenly Dipper felt 12 again. The hallway looked exactly the same as it had five years ago, and the same poster that Mabel had put up on the door was still there. Ford stood in the doorway, smiling happily.

Mabel jumped forward and hugged him. He patted her on the head, and grinned at Dipper.

He looked almost exactly the same as they remembered him, except for a streak of gold that went through his hair. It was a side effect of being turned into a gold statue by Bill, and, despite that fact that it was linked with bad memories, everyone loved how it looked.

Mabel let him go, and pulled off her headband to show off the yellow highlight that she had put in that morning. She had started highlighting her hair when she had been 14, and the color changed every week.

"We match!" She laughed. Ford nodded, grinning.

"That's very cool, Mabel." He said. "How've you guys been?" He asked. "I cleaned up your old room for you, so you can put the bags in there if you want to stay here."

"Sure." Dipper nodded and picked up the bags to bring them into the room. On his way in, Ford patted his shoulder.

"It's good to see you, Dipper." He said, smiling. Dipper smiled.

"Good to see you too, Grunkle Ford. Nice hair." He commented as he put the bags down on the attic floor.

Just like the hallway, the attic room seemed completely untouched. It was almost exactly the same as it had been, save for the lack of their things. The only other thing missing was the Bill window, which had shattered when they landed the finishing blow on him.

"So, how long will you kids be staying?" Stan asked, leaning against the doorframe as Dipper pulled out his shirts and began hanging them in the closet.

"We're not sure, actually." He handed Mabel her purse. "Go put your stuff away, Mab." He told her, then he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Grunkle Ford said he wanted me to help out with the college, so I'll be here for a while. Mabel, on the other hand..." He shrugged. "She was looking at a fashion designing college in Florida, so I don't know how long she'll be staying."

"Florida?" Ford raised an eyebrow as Mabel popped out of the closet.

"Yep! It's called the Art Institute. It's in Tampa." She pulled out one of her sweaters, a skintight one that kept in body-heat to keep you warm. It was decorated with a diamond pattern. "I design sweaters."

"I should have known you'd end up making those things." Stan chuckled. "It suits you."

"Thanks! Although, I probably won't need any sweaters in Florida..." She muttered, running a hand through her hair.

"Nah, it gets pretty cold there." Dipper commented, pulling out his phone. "See? 'In Florida, it can get down to the forties during the winter, and sometimes colder. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Florida is negative two.'" He quoted from his phone. "Besides, people in Florida are weak. They get cold when it's sixty degrees out."

Mabel beamed. "Thanks, bro." She ducked back into the closet.

"So, anyway, Grunkle Ford, where are you building the college?" Dipper asked, folding his pants and putting them away.

"Over where the Northwest mansion used to be." He said. "Pacifica let me use the property."

Dipper felt himself blush. "O-Oh. Where is Pacifica?" He asked. "Does she even still live here?"

As if she was summoned by his question, a woman appeared in the doorway, holding a package. Her long, bright blonde hair fell down to her waist even though it was put up in a braid, and her pretty blue eyes shined with kindness.

"Mr. Pines, I brought a package for you from the mailman." She said. Her eyes widened when she noticed Dipper, and she gazed at him for a moment.

"Dipper?" She asked, crossing her arms after Stan took the box. She gave him the once-over, and found herself blushing.

The last time she had seen Dipper Pines, he had been a scrawny little twelve year old covered in scars and celebrating the victory over the weird triangle guy. Now, though, he was... Wow. He had gotten much taller, and also stronger. He was sill a bit wiry, but his arms were laced with muscles. He held more confidence, too, as if all he needed was to defeat an immortal dream demon to boost his ego.

"Pacifica?" She turned at the new voice, and took in the newcomer. She had short brown hair with a blue streak, and a kind face. Her brown eyes shined with determination and childlike joy. She was much taller too, and she had definitely grown up. Pacifica couldn't help but admire the skin-tight sweater she was wearing, and the way that it accentuated her curves in a very beautiful way.

"No way!" The girl, who Pacifica assumed was Mabel, jumped forward and hugged her around the neck. "I thought you left Gravity Falls..."

"M-Mabel?" Pacifica stuttered, her eyes wide. She wasn't exactly used to hugs, after all.

"Yeah, it's Mabel! You look great!" Mabel let her go and did a once-over, grinning. "So many old friends in one place!"

Pacifica decided to not point out that they hadn't exactly been "friends" as kids. Dipper stood up, his arms crossed, and raised his eyebrows.

"What, no designer jeans today?" He asked, a wry, amused smile on his face. "You've changed."

"So have you. No longer Mr. Noodle-arms, huh?" She countered. Mabel and Stan gasped at the same time, and Dipper and Ford, who realized what was happening, gazed at them in horror.

"New ship!" They cried together as Dipper began blushing furiously. A few days before they left Gravity Falls the first time, Mabel had explained the concept of "shipping" to Stan, and he had surprisingly taken to it, which was bad news for any of the people in the ships.

"What?" Pacifica asked. "What are you talking about?" She was very confused.

"Just promise you won't slack off when you two start dating." Stan smirked. "Or I'll have to fire you."

"Stanley, you wouldn't fire her no matter what she did. She's more helpful than you ever have been." Ford sighed, then grabbed his brother's arm. "We'll let you three catch up. When you're ready, come downstairs, Dipper. I have some things to show you."

Dipper nodded. "Alright, Grunkle Ford." He said as they left. "So, you work here?"

Pacifica looked away. "Yeah, so? I wanted to actually start working in my life." She crossed her arms. "I didn't want to end up as lazy as my parents."

"That's cool! You've become a better person!" Mabel went back to packing, but she poked her head out of the closet almost every minute to listen in on the conversation.

"What about you? What do you do?" Pacifica asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and watching as Dipper rummaged around in his bag.

"Oh! Right now, I work at an auto-repair place. My dad taught me a ton about fixing cars." He explained, pulling out a lava lamp and putting it on the desk next to his bed. "I'm going to start my own paranormal investigation show eventually, once I obtain the money to actually do it..." He frowned, then shook his head. "Me and Mabel are raising money, though, so I'll get it eventually."

"Not eventually!" Mabel called from the closet. "Very soon!"

"Huh. Interesting." She glanced towards the closet, where Mabel was humming her favorite Melena Snowmez song. "What about you?" She called.

"Oh! I design clothes." She called back, pulling out the same diamond sweater she showed their Grunkles earlier. "I make sweaters that look super good, but are functional at the same time." She explained, pulling off her pink sweater and pulling the diamond one on. "See? This one holds in your body temperature, so it can keep you super warm during the winter, and it also breathes, so you stay cool during the summer." She struck some poses to model it.

Pacifica raised her eyebrows. "Not bad." She admitted, standing up. "Maybe I'll buy some."

Mabel's eyes widened, and her face lit up as Pacifica walked out. "I guess I'll see you guys around the town, then?"

"Yeah, I guess." Dipper replied, watching her as she left. He turned to Mabel, about to say something, when she ran back inside.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot! I wanted to give this to you years ago, but I forgot." She reached into her purse and drew out a bundle of white and blue. "I was actually going to give it to your great uncles today, but I forgot."

She handed it to Dipper, and he unfolded it, then gasped, his eyes widening as a wave of nostalgia washed over him.

"My hat!" He smiled as he put it on. "Thanks, Pacifica." He grinned at her. "I thought I lost this... How did you ever find it, though?" He remembered the day he had lost it, when he had jumped onto a spaceship, clinging to a magnet gun to save Ford, and the hat had fallen off of his head.

"It just... Appeared in my yard one day. It was actually pretty weird." She shrugged. "Whatever. I should probably get-"

"Dipper!" Mabel crashed out of the closet, her hands glowing a strange bright blue. Dipper caught her and steadied her before she fell, and some of the weird blueness fell off onto him and Pacifica.

"What happened?" Dipper asked, looking at his sister in concern.

"What did you do?" Pacifica cried at the same time, looking in horror at the blue glow seeping from the closet and into the room, turning everything it touched black-and-white.

"There was a weird... Thing and I accidentally knocked it over and it spilled this blue stuff on me and I don't know what happened but stuff started turning black and white!" She rambled.

"Dipper..." Pacifica called softly, staring out the window. A bird sat in the air, completely still, its wings still in mid-flap.

"Omygosh..." Mabel panicked. "This is like when Gideon summoned Bill!"

Dipper froze. "But... Bill's dead! There's no way he's back, right?"

"It can't be! Grunkle Ford killed him! We saw it, right!" Mabel sounded scared. Dipper put his arm around her neck to comfort her as he gazed at the bird, which began to move again.

"Is it going... Backwards?" Pacifica asked, looking at it with narrowed eyes. "How come weird things always happen when I'm with Pines?" She cried.

"How is it my... Fault..." He trailed off as exact copies of them appeared in the room, doing everything they had done since they'd gotten there in reverse.

"Are we going back in time?" Mabel asked, looking with fearful eyes as increasingly younger versions of their Grunkles entered the room every so often.

"Oh, no way..." Dipper breathed, watching as a twelve year old Mabel ran into the room in reverse, wiping away tears. He watched his twelve year old self comfort her, and then walk away backwards.

"No denying it now." Mabel said, sounding surprisingly calm. "We're going back in time."

"But... How?" Dipper sat down on the edge of the bed and held his head. "How is this possible?"

"Maybe that was one of Grunkle Ford's inventions? From a way long time ago?" Mabel suggested. "Or maybe that time guy, Blendin?"

"M-Maybe..." Dipper said, gasping as a way younger Ford walked into the room and put down a notebook. "Is that one of the journals?"

"How far back are we going?" Pacifica asked softly. "Will we even be able to get back once we're there?"

Dipper shook his head. "I dunno." He sighed. "At least we're all together."

He grabbed Mabel's hand softly to comfort her, and then, after a few seconds of arguing with himself, grabbed Pacifica's too. They watched in silence as the Ford that kept coming in got younger and younger, until finally the entire room flashed white, and they all passed out.


	2. Carla McCorkle

Hey guys! Sorry this update is a bit late(I meant to post it this morning but I've got a bad cold and I didn't even remember) but hopefully you'll like it... It's fluffy, especially at the end, so...

* * *

Pacifica grunted as she tripped over her own feet, falling face first to the ground. Bright lights popped in front of her face, and she cringed.

Dipper fell next, landing on top of Pacifica in a very uncomfortable position indeed. They stared at each other for a second, blushing, until Mabel fell on top of them, crushing them both.

"W-What happened?" Mabel asked, rolling off of them and rubbing her eyes. "It was so bright..."

"I don't know." Dipper said, standing up and helping Pacifica to her feet. "I think we might've gone back in time."

"But where are we?" Pacifica asked, looking around at the beach that they sat on. "This definitely isn't Gravity Falls..."

"Glass Shard Beach..." Dipper muttered, reading the sign that was a few feet away from them. "That's in New Jersey! How did we get all the way there?" Dipper crossed his arms. "This is weird..."

"There's no town in sight..." Pacifica said. "Where's the nearest road?"

Mabel pulled off her sweater, revealing the black tank top underneath. "It's _hot_ here." She said, tying her sweater around her waist.

"So, anyway, she poured her soda all down my shirt, and I couldn't tell if it was on accident or not, so I tried to make a joke about it, and she walked away!"

Dipper gasped, pushing the girls down behind a rock as two people walked towards them, talking animatedly.

"Obviously it was on purpose. We're you being obnoxious?" A softer voice asked. Dipper peeked up over the rock, and then gasped, recognizing the two people immediately.

"Who is it?" Mabel tried to peek over too, but Dipper pushed her down.

"It's..." He hesitated. "The Grunkles." He said finally. "Younger versions, though. It's weird..."

Mabel gasped. "So we really _are_ in the past!" She breathed.

"Yeah. This isn't good. How are we going to get out of here without them noticing us?" He replied over his shoulder as he watched the Grunkles pull out a slightly broken boat from behind a rock and begin painting it.

"Easily." Pacifica said. "Just follow my lead." She glanced around, and then, once she was sure the coast was clear, shot forward, crawling towards the next rock. Mabel followed immediately, and, after a moments hesitation, Dipper followed her.

Pacifica shot from rock to rock, and, after they were a good distance away, stood up and motioned for the twins to do the same.

Dipper stood and wiped the sand off of his jeans, sure that they were in the clear now that they were so far away.

"Hey!" Or not...

Pacifica jumped at the yell, and turned to see Grunkle Stan running towards them, brandishing a paintbrush like a sword. She composed herself quickly, putting one hand on her hip and morphing her face into a perfect look of confusion.

"Is there a problem, mister?" She asked, batting her eyelashes in the way that she knew would melt any man's heart and turn them into putty in her hands.

"Yeah, there's a problem!" Any man, except Stan, apparently. "This entire cove belongs to me and my brother."

"Does it?" Pacifica smiled apologetically, her teeth brilliantly white. Her attempts to woo Stan went right over his head, but, unfortunately for Dipper, they didn't go over his. He felt his face heat up, and he was fairly certain it wasn't because of the blazing sun.

"I'm terribly sorry, sir. Me and my friends here were just wandering the beach and we found this place. We're a bit lost, actually..." She bit her lip and looked down, her blue eyes filling with worry. Dipper felt his knees go weak.

"Oh..." Stan crossed his arms, completely unaware of the fact that the paintbrush that he was holding was covering his shirt with blue paint. "The town's back that way." He pointed over his shoulder, past where the boat was. "I guess I can walk you, if you're really that lost."

"Oh, that's not necessary!" Pacifica beamed. "Thanks for the offer! We just got a bit turned around, but I think we can manage on our own." She grinned blindingly. "Thanks for the help!"

She strode confidently in the direction Stan had indicated, and, after glancing at each other, the twins followed her.

Dipper tried not to look at Ford as he walked past, but he couldn't help but glance in his direction. He had seen pictures of 17 year old Ford, but he never thought he'd see him in real life. It was weird.

Mabel managed to bring his attention back to her as she poked him in the side, a sly smile on her face. "So." She said, raising her eyebrows.

"So... What?" He asked, crossing his arms. She rolled her eyes.

"You know what! I saw how you looked at Pacifica..." She nudged him gently with her shoulder. "You liiiiiike her, don't you?"

Dipper blushed dark red, and began spluttering. "W-What? No! N-No!" He pushed Mabel away.

"Don't deny it, bro-bro. You're in love!" She clapped her hands together, her face lighting up. "Ah, young love..."

"You're the same age as me!" He protested. "And I'm not in love!"

"Yeah, yeah." She grinned. "Brother, you're swimming down the river of Denial!" She burst out laughing at her own joke. "Boosh!"

"Quit goofing around back there!" Pacifica called sharply, turning towards them and crossing her arms. "We're in a really bad situation here!"

"I-I wasn't goofing around!" Dipper protested. "It was Mabel! She was teasing me!"

"No I wasn't!" Mabel cried. In an undertone, she added, "Way to sell me out, bro."

"You two are acting like little kids!" Pacifica rolled her eyes. "The town's right over there. You can be idiots there." She turned on her heel and began walking again, and the twins jogged to keep up.

They made it to the town a few minutes after them, and they ducked inside of an empty ice cream parlor to talk.

"So. We're in the past." Dipper stated. "What do we do now?"

Mabel was staring at the menu with stars in her eyes. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ordering a sundae." She pulled a few bills out of her purse and walked up to the counter, leaving Pacifica and Dipper alone at the table.

"You're absolutely positive that those were your great-uncles?" Pacifica asked, propping her head up with her hand. Dipper nodded.

"I'm sure. There was no one else it could be." He crossed his arms. "At least we have a vague idea of what time we're in, though. It must have been before their falling out, because they were hanging out, so it must be sometime in the seventies..."

"Which got me thinking," Mabel said, returning to the table with a bowl of ice cream the size of her head. "why don't we use this opportunity to our advantage?"

"How?" Dipper asked, taking a spoonful of her ice cream and ignoring her protests.

She glared as she sat down. "First of all, mine. Get your own if you want some." She crossed her arms and licked the entire bowl to keep him away. "Second of all, what if we tried to prevent Grunkle Stan from breaking Grunkle Ford's thingy?" She suggested, taking a huge spoonful of chocolate ice cream and covering her face with chocolate sauce.

Dipper sighed as he handed her a napkin. "Changing the past wouldn't be a good idea, Mabel. You never know what future we might return to."

Mabel rolled her eyes. "Says the guy who went back in time, like, fifteen times just to impress a girl."

"I'm with Dipper." Pacifica said. "What if we change something, and it ends up allowing Bill to win? Or one of us dies? It's not a good idea." She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms.

"But we could fix their horrible lives! Don't you remember how sad Grunkle Stan looked after Grunkle Ford was mean to him?" Mabel insisted. "Wouldn't you want to make it so that they were happy?"

"I... I don't know. I want them to be happy, but what if Pacifica's right? What if we return to a future where Bill won, or something like that? You could end up in Mabel-land forever!"

Mabel shuddered, remembering the fantasy world she had been stuck in. "That place was creepy. I sometimes still get that horrible music stuck in my head." She grimaced. "That _could_ happen, but isn't it worth the risk? It could prevent so many bad things!" _Like Ford thinking twins were bad and trying to recruit Dipper_ , She added silently.

"For now, we should try to figure out what we're going to do right now. We have no house, no clothes, no friends, nothing." Pacifica said. "I have, like, fifteen bucks on me."

"That's true... That would never get a house, or even an apartment." Dipper said, digging around in his wallet. "I have thirty."

"I've got fifty!" Mabel grinned. "I came prepared."

"Prepared for this?" Pacifica raised an eyebrow. "I doubt it."

Dipper chuckled. "She's always prepared for everything. I'm surprised she didn't bring her grappling hook."

"Oh, didn't I?" Mabel said, making Dipper look at her with wide eyes. "Nah, I'm just kidding. I wish I had, though."

"So, we have 95 bucks, no clothes, and nowhere to stay." Pacifica sighed. "Do we have to be homeless now?"

"Excuse me." They looked up. A girl, maybe a little older than they were, with long, brown hair and bright green eyes, stood at their table, twisting her skirt between her hands. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I... I have a spare room, if you need a place to stay."

"Really?" Mabel grinned at the girl. "Thanks! My name's Mabel!" She held out her hand, and the girl shook it.

"I'm Carla. Carla Mccorkle." The girl introduced herself. Dipper froze.

:Uh, Mabel, can I, uh, talk to you for a moment?" He asked, grabbing her arm. "Excuse us."

"Um, sure." Carla blinked.

Dipper led Mabel into the hallway near the bathrooms and started pacing, his arms crossed.

"Do you know who that is?" Dipper asked. Mabel shrugged.

"Yeah... She told us her name. Carla Mccorkle, remember?" Mabel looked at Dipper funny. "Is there a problem with her or something?"

"She's going to be Stan's girlfriend! If we get involved with her, we get involved with Stan, and either him or Ford are bound to notice the similarities between us and them!" He cried, albeit quietly.

Mabel's eyes widened. "That's right!" She frowned. "But, Dipper, we need a place to stay. I doubt 95 bucks would get us an apartment." She pointed out. Dipper sighed.

"It could get a hotel room!" He protested. "What if Stan comes over one day while we're there and realizes that I look like Ford?" He asked. "What do we do then?"

"It's actually been scientifically proven that everyone has 7 people on Earth who look like them." Mabel recited. It was one of her favorite facts ever. "I'm sure it'll be fine. Besides, we've already accepted!"

"You've already accepted."

Mabel ignored the interruption. "It would be rude to say no now." She finished. "I'm going to go make small talk."

She walked away, leaving Dipper alone in the hallway. He took a few deeps breaths and told himself that it would be fine, but he didn't believe it.

"Sorry about that. My brother gets a bit nervous around strangers." Mabel apologized to Carla.

She shook her head. "Oh, don't worry, it's no trouble!" She smiled. "If you don't mind me asking, how come you don't have a place to live?"

"Oh!" Mabel fidgeted. "I... We... We moved here from California and we got an apartment but they kicked us out!" She lied.

"Oh, that's not good." Carla seemed to believe the lie. "But, don't worry! My roommate just moved out, so I've been looking for a new one."

"Well, thank you." Dipper said, suddenly reappearing behind Pacifica and looking much calmer. "We really appreciate it."

Carla's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "No problem." She said. "Wait around here for a while. My shift ends in a little while." She smiled. "In the meantime, I suggest you try the Milky-Way shake. It's far out." She walked away.

Mabel grinned. "I'll go get us some. They're, like, fifty cents each."

Dipper handed her two dollars, and she bounced off to the counter to order.

"Well, now we have a place to stay, at least. How come you got so worked up about it?" Pacifica asked Dipper, looking at him. He leaned in closer so Carla wouldn't hear.

"That's Stan's future girlfriend. Or maybe they're dating now. I dunno." He whispered, then leaned back again. Pacifica nodded.

"Alright, now I get it. Isn't it a bit dangerous to be staying with her, then?" She asked. Dipper laughed.

"That's what I said! Unfortunately, Mabel isn't about to be swayed." He sighed and shook his head.

"It'll be fine, Dip-Dop." Mabel said, returning to the table with a tray of pink and brown milkshakes and a plate of fries. "Have a little faith."

"How'd you get the fries?" Pacifica asked, taking a milkshake and sipping. "Mmm... That's good." She moaned happily.

"They came free if you buy three!" Mabel grinned, sitting down and grabbing a cup.

Dipper took a sip, and smiled. It tasted like chocolate strawberries, with whipped cream on top. "This is pretty good." He admitted.

"Old-timey food is always the best." Mabel agreed. "So, now we wait?"

"I guess." Dipper nodded.

Later that day, Carla came from the back of the shop to pick them up. She had changed out of her uniform and into a plaid shirt and a pair of pink shorts, and her hair was up in a ponytail.

"I'm going out to the movies later, so I'll drop you guys off and then I'll head out, okay?" Carla said, fishing around in her purse for her keys.

She led them up a driveway, towards a light lavender apartment complex, and opened the door. "Home sweet home." She said softly.

Dipper looked around. The apartment was small, but in a good, cozy way, with light blue walls and purple furnishings. A single lava lamp stood on the table, casting red and orange light against the walls.

"The spare room is through that way. See you guys later." Carla said, then left, locking the door behind her.

"She's nice." Mabel said kindly, looking around eagerly. "And this place is awesome! A lava lamp! I haven't seen one of these... Ever!" She cried.

Pacifica rolled her eyes and yawned. "Point me to the nearest bed." She said, looking really tired. "I need to sleep off the weirdness."

Mabel opened the door that Carla had indicated, and led them into a small room. It was simply furnished, with a single bed and a couch in the corner. An empty desk sat next to the bed, and a lamp with a blue shade lit the room.

Pacifica slumped down onto the bed, and sighed in relief, closing her eyes and turning over until she was laying on her stomach.

Dipper sat down on the desk chair and took off his hat to run a hand through his hair. "This is too weird for words..." He muttered.

"Yeah..." Mabel agreed, laying down on the couch and pulling off her headband. "Maybe it's all a dream?" She yawned.

Dipper looked out the window at the setting sun, and shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. Go to sleep, Mab. G'night." He said.

Mabel nodded. "Night, Dipper." She turned over.

Dipper stood up and grabbed a blanket out of the closet to drape over her sleeping figure, and then leaned back in the chair and put his hat over his eyes to block out the light from the window.

"Get over here." A voice came out of the darkness, startling Dipper. He looked around.

"Huh?"

"Look, I know neither of us wants to do this, but you can't sleep in a chair, and there's no more room in the couch, so we'll share." He recognized Pacifica's voice, and he blushed. He was suddenly _very_ thankful that the lights were out.

"Y-You mean share the bed?" He asked incredulously. He heard her sigh.

"No, I mean share clothes." He couldn't see her, but he could practically _hear_ her rolling her eyes. "Come on. You'll die if you don't sleep."

"I've pulled all-nighters before." He protested. Pacifica chuckled softly.

"Yeah, I saw the bags under your eyes from miles away. I doubt anyone wants to see you like that. Don't make it awkward and just get in here."

"I..." He sighed. "Okay. Thanks." He stood up and stretched out his back, and then climbed slowly into the bed, feeling around for Pacifica to make sure he wouldn't accidentally step on her or something.

He climbed under the covers, careful not to let any part of his body touch hers, and closed his eyes. "Night." He said.

"Night." She replied.

Dipper closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, and he fell asleep within minutes, hoping against hope to be in the Mystery Shack's attic when he woke up.

* * *

So... Again, I'm super sorry for the slightly late update... Hopefully I'll be better by next week so I can post it in the morning like I wanted to. Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	3. Back to School

Hey guys... Sorry if this chapter is a bit worse than the others, it turns out I have flu instead of a cold so I'm super tired... Anyway, I tried my best, so hopefully you'll enjoy. We get some Stans in this one, and a tiny glimpse of one of the villains... Enjoy!

* * *

Click!

Dipper stirred, the strange clicking noise waking him from his peaceful slumber. He was dimly aware that his arm was numb, but he couldn't figure out why.

He heard muffled giggling, and another click. He pushed his eyes open against his will, and, blinking the sleep out of his eyes, was met with the sight of Mabel taking pictures of him with her phone.

"W-Wha?" He mumbled. Mabel just giggled in response, looking at something off to his right.

With an enormous effort he managed to turn his head, and found a blonde haired girl latched onto his arm, sleeping soundly. It took him a moment to realize who it was, but when he did...

"Aaah!" He screamed, jumping away as if he had been burned. Pacifica's eyes shot open, and she looked around wildly.

"What happened?" She cried. Mabel smiled slyly, and Dipper looked at her in horror.

"Mabel, please, no-" He tried to beg, but Mabel cut him off by holding up a picture of them cuddling while asleep.

"W-What?" Pacifica blinked. "That must be a doctored photo."

Dipper was surprised she was taking this so well. "Yeah... Totally doctored." He agreed, trying to shake some feeling back into his arm.

Mabel grinned. "Nope! I just took this picture a few minutes ago!" She swiped across her screen, bringing up an exact copy of the picture with a triangle in front. "I even took a video!"

Pacifica blushed. "N-No way... There's no way I cuddled with him..." She muttered, her face as red as a tomato.

"Yes way!" Mabel crossed her arms. "Unless you're denying the evidence?" She raised an eyebrow, and Pacifica hid her face in her hands.

"Mabel, we don't have time for this." Dipper sighed, trying to ignore his burning face. "We need to figure out what we're doing."

"I was thinking about it last night." Mabel said, sitting down and turning off her phone. Dipper silently thanked her for relenting the teasing. "Even if we don't do my absolutely brilliant plan, we still need a way back, right? Who else could help us with that but the person who probably invented that weird time-goo in the first place?"

"Ford?" Dipper cried, incredulous. "No way! It could cause any number of paradoxes!"

"But how else are we going to get back?" She asked, crossing her arms. Dipper looked at Pacifica, looking for some sort of support.

"She's crazy, right?" He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "It would never work..."

"She is crazy, that's a given." Pacifica nodded. "But her idea makes sense. And it's the best idea we've got."

Dipper looked at the two girls like they were crazy, and then sighed. "How are we even going to tell him? He's never going to believe us."

Mabel waved her phone in the air. "We have proof! Pictures and modern tech!" She grinned. "Dipper, this is the only way. Unless you want to call on Blendin, and I doubt he would help."

"You two still look school age. It's mid-March here, so you could still be in school. We could register you at the high school, and then I could get a job somewhere, and you two can get closer to your great-uncle while I earn us some money." Pacifica said, standing up and pulling on her shoes.

"But..." Dipper sighed. "Fine. You win. But don't come crying to me when the future is completely altered." He crossed his arms.

"You worry too much, bro. Calm down." Mabel smiled. "I guess it's time to go back to school!"

A few hours later, they stood outside the Principal's office, waiting for someone to bring them to their first class. Somehow the school had believed their "exchange student" lie, and now they were registered.

"See you guys later. I'm going job hunting." Pacifica waved as she walked out the doors.

"I don't want to go back to school." Dipper complained. "I've already learned it all."

Mabel shrugged. "I don't mind. I'll be able to make new friends!"

Dipper looked at her. "How is it that you can always look on the bright side?" He asked. "It's almost like a superpower or something..."

"Bright side woman!" Mabel exclaimed. "Yes! That's awesome!" She grinned as a tall, stern looking woman with silvery hair and sharp gray eyes walked out of the office.

"Dipper and Mabel... Pienes?" The woman asked. Dipper looked up and nodded. "Alright. Your first class is Calculous. Here's your schedule and a map of the school.

"Thank you." Mabel said, taking the papers. The woman nodded and turned around briskly, and they started down the hall.

"I still can't believe that all we did was add an e to our names." Dipper shook his head. "It's ridiculous."

"Nah, it's genius!" Mabel boasted. "No one will ever know!"

"Except for Ford, according to you." He pointed out as they reached the door to classroom 14C. Dipper took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Stan hated calculus. He didn't understand why he needed to learn this stuff. He wouldn't use it, would he? It seemed pointless.

Just as he was debating sending a spitball towards Nathan Darcy, the door opened, and a kid peeked his head in.

"Ah! You must be the Pienes!" The teacher, Mr. Organa, clapped his hands together. "Come in, come in."

He turned to the students as two people walked in. The first, a boy, had dark brown hair, covered partially by a blue hat with a pine tree on it. He had a nervous expression on his face.

The second was a girl, and she was grinning eagerly, looking at all of them with such an excited expression that Stan himself started feeling excited. Her brown hair was pinned back with a pink headband, and, despite the summer heat, she wore a pink sweater and a blue skirt.

"Class, these are our new students, Dipper and Mabel Pienes." Mr. Organa introduced. Dipper waved, and Mabel grinned at them all, waving wildly. "Tell us something about yourselves.

"Hi!" Mabel went first. "My name is Mabel, and I like sweaters and cats and making new friends!" Mabel said, her voice full of happiness.

"Um... Hey. I'm Dipper. I like reading and studying paranormal stuff." Dipper waved again, and Stan couldn't help but be reminded of his own brother.

"Go ahead and take a seat wherever one is available. We were just in the middle of a lesson, so go to the closet and grab a textbook. Open it to page 394." Mr. Organa said.

Dipper went to the closet and grabbed two textbooks, and handed one to his sister. Then he turned to the class, scanning for a seat.

There were only two open seats in the class, one next to Ford and one behind Stan. Dipper, who couldn't help but think that that worked out a bit _too_ well, slid into the seat next to Ford, opening his textbook and speed-reading through it.

Mabel slid into the seat behind him. "Hi! I'm Mabel." She introduced herself to him eagerly.

"I know. I'm Stanley." He grunted, not taking his eyes off the blackboard so he wouldn't get caught talking.

"It's nice to meet you!" The girl replied. Stan rolled his eyes.

"You too." He turned towards her just the slightest bit, allowing her to see his amused expression. "You really should pay attention."

"Nah, I already know calculus." She shrugged. Stan's eyes widened.

"We're you tutored or somethin'?" He asked. Mabel's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, and then she shook her head.

"N-No!" She denied. "I... I read a couple books about it at the library in California." She lied quickly.

Meanwhile, Dipper and Ford kept glancing at each other, Dipper with awe and Ford with confusion.

'How come he looks so much like me?' Ford thought, glancing at Dipper again over the top of his textbook.

'I seriously cannot believe this.' Dipper marveled silently, glancing at Ford out of the corner of his eye.

An hour and a half later, Dipper and Mabel made their way through the crowd of people and towards the cafeteria for lunch. They had discussed a plan of action during Chemistry, and they were ready to test it out.

First, they went to go get their lunch, which was a plate of some sort of meat with a side of cheesy brocoli and a muffin.. Then, they found the table that the Stans sat at, and walked towards it.

Luckily, there weren't many open spaces left anywhere else, so it didn't look too suspicious that they were sitting near the Stans. They slid into the chairs and ate a bit, waiting...

"Hey," Dipper turned at the voice, and saw Ford, twirling a fork and looking at him curiously. "you said you study the paranormal, right?"

"Yeah." Dipper said, trying to keep cool. He morphed his face into a look of surprise, gazing at Ford's hand. Ford grimaced, expecting some sort of teasing, but Dipper grinned instead, surprising Ford. "You have six fingers? That's so cool!" He gushed.

Ford's face lit up. "Really?" He asked, looking at his hands. "No one's ever said that before..." He said quietly.

"Well, I don't see why not. It's cool." Dipper said, taking a spoonful of brocoli. "And yeah, I'm really interested in the paranormal."

"That's one of my hobbies. I study stuff like that." Ford said. "I never thought I'd meet anyone with the same interests as me. It's like we're related or something!"

"Yeah, imagine that..." Dipper said under his breath, thanking God that Ford wasn't noticing how much they looked alike.

"So..." Mabel sat next to Stan, trying to think of something to say, but befriending him wasn't as easy as she had thought it would be.

"So what?" Stan turned and looked at her with one brow raised, a slightly amused expression on his face. Mabel fidgeted, looking around, and noticed Dipper and Ford talking animatedly.

"It looks like our brothers are getting along!" She blurted out suddenly, at a loss for what else to say. Stan looked at them.

"Your brother must be pretty weird, then." Stan commented, although he looked happy that Ford was happy. "Or a giant nerd."

"Oh, he is." Mabel laughed. "He stays up all night reading and nerdy stuff like that..." She trailed off and began twisting her skirt between her fingers, wondering what to say next. She really didn't like this awkwardness.

"So where'd you guys move from?" Stan asked, mixing his meat in with his brocoli and taking a bite of his muffin.

Mabel sighed in relief, glad that he was directing the conversation rather than her. "Well..."

Pacifica didn't like job hunting.

When she had tried to get a job in Gravity Falls, she had found the Mystery Shack pretty easily, and had gotten the job pretty quickly.

Now, though? Now, she couldn't find a single place that needed help. She had been up and down the town, looking in all of the windows of for a Help Wanted sign, a single one, but there were none.

She bought a newspaper and looked in the job listings, but most of the jobs required previous job experience.

"How am I supposed to get a job if they all require experience?" She moaned. "How am I supposed to get experience if I can't get a job?"

She sat down on a bench and sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes. Finding a job seemed like an impossible task at this point.

She sighed and stood back up, deciding to go walk back down the street to see if there was any place that she missed. She seriously hoped that there was.

The sun beat down on her as she walked down the street, checking every window for a Help Wanted sign, but, if there were any, they weren't showing themselves to her.

She didn't notice, as she walked down the street, desperately looking for a job, that there was a distinctly triangular shadow behind hers.

* * *

So, yeah, Bill is here, but not in the way you'd think. Hope you enjoyed, and, again, sorry if it was bad. My head was killing me when I wrote it but I didn't want to be late again...


	4. I Dream of Geometry

Hey everyone! I'm back, and feeling better(Thanks to the people who said , "Get well soon!"), and I'm also super happy. 26 followers already! I know it's not that many, but it means a lot to me. Thanks for all the great reviews too, everyone!

Also, to the people who asked, Dipper and Mabel are 17 and the Stans are 17 too.

`Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch and the Timeshift AU belongs to artsycrapfromsai on Tumblr, I simply bring their genius together in a fic`

Enjoy!

* * *

After school ended, Dipper and Mabel returned to the apartment, and found a sight that was very strange.

Pacifica, who was dressed in bellbottom jeans and a lime green crop-top, was dancing along to some sort of old-timey 70's song with Carla. A radio sat on the table next to a pile of candy wrappers.

Dipper crossed his arms, recognizing the band MIZZ. He hadn't heard a song by them since he had been a kid, when his parents used to play it all the time.

"Pacifica!" Mabel called over the loud music. "We're home!"

Pacifica froze, and then jumped down off the couch and flipped off the radio. Carla grinned at them, brushing her hair down nervously with her fingers.

"Hey, Dipper." She said, but Dipper didn't pay attention, his eyes on Pacifica.

"How'd job hunting go?" Dipper asked. Pacifica rolled her eyes.

"Don't get me started. It was awful. It's like, there are no jobs here!" She complained. Then, she turned and grinned at Carla. "Luckily, there's an opening at the diner Carla's dad owns, the Juke Joint." She said. "So it's all good."

Dipper froze. Something about that name sounded familiar... But he couldn't put his finger on why. He gave himself a little shake, trying to tell himself not to worry about it.

"What about school?" Pacifica asked. "Any luck?"

Dipper shrugged. "Sorta." He said, eyeing Carla. He didn't really want to talk about their plan around her, because he knew that she would eventually be close with Stan.

"Well, I went out and bought some clothes today, so go get changed. You guys stink." Pacifica said. "Then we'll talk."

Dipper nodded, grabbing Mabel's hand and bringing her into the bedroom. "How are we supposed to talk about things with Carla in the room?" He asked.

Mabel shrugged, picking up the jeans that were on the couch and grinning. "These are cool!" She said. "I've always loved clothes from the seventies..." She said wistfully.

"Yeah, that's good. Do I have to wear this?" The shirt Pacifica had gotten him looked to be a size too big, and was patterned with rainbow tie-dye. "It seems more sixties than seventies."

Mabel rolled her eyes, an amused expression on her face. "Come on, bro. When in Rome, right?" She said, pulling on the pink and purple striped shirt that had been on top of the jeans. "It'll look great!"

"I'm not so sure about that..." He muttered. "Anyway, I'm seriously doubting our plan."

"Why?" Mabel asked, crossing her arms. "It'll work. Trust me."

"I do trust you, it's just that I doubt Ford will believe us. He seemed to like paranormal stuff, but he didn't really get into anomalies or anything like that until college. Is he really going to believe that we're his great-niece and nephew from the past?"

"Once we get him to trust us, then yes." Mabel replied as Pacifica popped her head into the room.

"Carla's going out again." She said. "I'll be in here in five to discuss what's happened."

Dipper sat down on the bed and kicked off his sneakers. "I don't see what there is to discuss." He muttered. "Nothing happened."

A few minutes later, Pacifica came back in, and sat down on the edge of the sofa cross-legged. "So, what happened?"

"Not much." Dipper said, laying down and staring at the ceiling. "I talked to Ford about nerdy stuff, Mabel got Stan to warm up to her, but other than that nothing."

"Great." Pacifica crossed her arms. "At least we've gotten a bit closer. I would be completely unemployed if it wasn't for Carla." She shook her head. "Every job needs job experience, and yet you can't get experience unless you somehow get a job! It doesn't make sense."

"I know, right? It's ridiculous." Mabel replied, waving her arms for emphasis. Dipper rolled his eyes, sure that that would spark an entire conversation between the girls, and then closed his eyes, trying to ignore their talking. Somehow, despite the girls' loud talking about the unfairness of the job industry, he fell asleep.

He had a weird dream. He was walking through Gravity Falls, except it looked like Weirdmageddon all over again. The streets were deserted, but distant screams could be heard. It was just like he remembered it.

He shivered, a feeling of being watched filling him. He looked around, but there was no one there.

"Calm down, Dipper. This is probably just a dream." He told himself softly, but he was unable to shake the weird feeling.

"Well, well, well." Dipper gasped and jumped, looking around wildly. He knew that voice, and the laugh that followed, but it was impossible that he was hearing it.

A cold wind blew down the street, and Dipper shivered again. He turned to check behind his back, and when he turned back, he was met with the sight of a giant eyeball in front of his face.

He screamed and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a painful _thump_. He looked up in horror, sure that he must be dreaming at this point, because the thing that hovered above him was dead.

"Hey, calm down, kid!" Bill Cipher laughed, hovering right in front of Dipper's face. Dipper pushed him away.

"Leave me alone! You're not real! Ford and Stan killed you!" He panicked. He pulled up his sleeve and began pinching himself. "Wake up, Dipper. Wake up!"

"Oh, I'm real all right!" Bill leaned against thin air. "I haven't been killed yet! And, thanks to you, I might never be!"

"W-What do you mean?" Dipper stopped pinching himself, ignoring the fact that his arm was now bright red, and painfully throbbing, but he still hadn't woken up. "You died! I saw it!"

"Yeah, I know, I've been through all your memories." Bill's body flashed with images of his memories, and Dipper cringed. "Seems my plan worked out! Except for one problem." Bill's body stopped flashing, and suddenly he was right in Dipper's face. " _You_." He boomed.

"If you're going to kill me, go ahead! Just know that, even if I'm dead, my sister will stop you! And so will Pacifica!" He yelled. Bill chuckled.

"I don't have a physical form yet, so no killing for me!" He laughed. "Yet. Anywho, the thing is, I need all my plans to work. Which means I can't have you messing with them." He twirled his cane. "How'd you like to make a deal? You stay outta my way, and, in return, I'll spare you when that whole, 'weirdmageddon' thing happens. Whoo, can't wait for that!" His eye scrunched up in glee.

"No way! I'm through making deals with you!" Dipper yelled, remembering a certain sock puppet opera show that made him need therapy. "Leave me alone!"

"Well, the thing is, I can't. You're messing with things that you can't even begin to understand! I can't let you ruin them." Bill crossed his arms. "Which means I need you out of the picture."

Dipper felt faint. "No!" He yelled, grabbing a rock off the ground and throwing it at Bill. "I don't make deals with you!"

Bill caught the rock. "Heh, fine, maybe you won't right now. But believe me, Pine-tree, you will agree to this deal. Or maybe your sister will..." Bill tapped the area under his eye thoughtfully.

"Leave Mabel alone!" Dipper yelled, but suddenly he felt woozy. He fell to his knees and held his head. "What are you doing to me?" Dipper yelled.

"I'm not doing anything. Seems dear old sister is waking you up." Bill said. "Until next time, Pine-tree!" With a tip of his hat, he vanished in a flash of blue light.

Dipper shot up, breathing heavily and waving his arms wildly. It took him a moment to realize that he was back in Carla's bedroom, but when he did he lowered his arms and held his head in his hands.

"Dipper, are you okay?" He looked through his fingers at the concerned faces of Pacifica and Mabel, who were both standing at the end of the bed, staring at him. "You sounded like you were having a nightmare."

"Bill is back." He panted. "He's back and he knows and... What are we gonna do?" He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "We're doomed."

"Wait, Bill?" Mabel asked. "Oh, _no_. I was worried about this! We're in the past, so he isn't dead yet!"

"Nope." Dipper agreed. "Plus, he wants to make a _deal_ with me." He added. "He says if we 'stay out of his way' then he'll spare us during Weirdmageddon."

"That's insane!" Pacifica said. "Like we'd ever make a deal with him." She crossed her arms. "Right?"

"Of course not!" Mabel said. "We know not to trust him. We have nothing to worry about, as long as we agree to never make a deal with him." She said.

"I dunno. He said he'd 'make me agree'. That's a bit worrying." Dipper said, leaning against the headboard. "Now I don't want to go to sleep again..."

Pacifica looked genuinely concerned at his statement, but Mabel just rolled her eyes. "You're going to sleep, Dipper. You'll get bags under your eyes again. Plus, you do that." She pointed to his shirt, which he had been chewing on. He quickly wiped away the spit.

"I'll be fine." He didn't look fine. "I'm not being paranoid. This is a genuine threat! He could do anything to me!" Dipper's face was filled with panic.

Mabel didn't exactly blame Dipper for reacting so badly. She knew firsthand the horrors that Bill could conjure. "Dipper..." She said softly, reaching out for her brother's hand. "I know that you're scared. I am too! But freaking out will get us nowhere. We need to calm down."

Pacifica nodded. "The only way to defeat Bill is to ignore him. If you start getting all worked up about what he said, you'll start doubting yourself and then you'll break down enough to agree to what he said." She said slowly.

Dipper nodded slowly. "...Okay." He said finally. "You're right. It was probably just a dream anyway. I'm sure it was probably a dream." He said, mostly trying to convince himself.

Mabel nodded, grinning. "That's a good bro-bro. Now, it's late." She said, pointing outside at the night sky. "Me and Paz are gonna go to sleep. You don't have to, if you don't want to."

"How long was I asleep before?" He asked. Pacifica looked at him, one eyebrow raised.

"Five hours." She said. Dipper shook his head.

"I guess time flies when you're being terrorized by triangles." He said. Pacifica laughed.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said, climbing into the bed next to him. "Night, Dipper." She said, reaching over to turn off the lamp.

"Good night."

"Sweet dreams, everyone. And remember, watch out for evil geometry!" Mabel called into the darkness. Dipper found himself laughing as he leaned against the wall, opting to watch the sky through the window rather than go back to sleep and leave himself open to triangular attacks.

Mabel drifted off to sleep almost immediately, not very worried about Bill. She figured that it was probably just a stress-induced dream

Her dream, while being less horrifying than Dipper's, was just as stressful. She stood in a dark room, filled with tables and different science experiments.

She looked around in confusion. "Am I dreaming?" She asked out-loud, walking around a table covered with a sheet.

Her head shot up when the door opened, and a grumbling, young Stan walked into the room, his arms crossed and an angry expression on his face. Mabel froze as he walked towards her, not even acknowledging her presence, and then he walked right _through_ her.

"Huh?" She watched with wide eyes as he passed right through her, heading towards a strange looking device labeled, "Perpetual Motion Machine."

Mabel's eyes widened even further when she realized what was happening. "No!" She cried. "This hasn't happened yet! It shouldn't happen for a few weeks!"

She tried to run towards Stan, to stop him from doing anything to the machine, but, before she could do anything, he hit the table, and the panel on the side popped off. It began smoking.

Stan, who was panicking at this point, tried to put the panel back on, and then ran off, leaving a bag of toffee peanuts on the floor.

"Oh, no!" Mabel cried, kneeling down and trying to pick up the bag. She was only half surprised when her hand went right through it. "Why do I have to see this?" She muttered as the scene suddenly sped up, right to when Ford was unveiling the project.

"No, Grunkle Ford! Don't!" Mabel tried in vain to stop him, but no one could see her. She was forced to watch as Ford whipped off the tarp, revealing a broken machine.

"What?" Ford cried. "But it was stable yesterday! A fuse must've blown or something!" He began frantically searching the device.

The judges crossed off his name, and walked away, leaving Ford to discover the bag of peanuts on his own. He picked it up, and then crushed it between his fingers.

Mabel watched helplessly as the scene changed again, dropping her right in the middle of someone's apartment. She looked around, and spotted Stan on the couch, playing around with a paddleball. He jumped when Ford opened the door and then slammed it.

"Hey, what's the word, Sixer?" Stan asked, standing up. Ford growled, and held up the empty bag of peanuts.

"Can you explain what _this_ was doing next to my project?" Ford asked. Stan blinked, and then rubbed the back of his next nervously.

"Heh, so, I might've been horsing around next to your machine..." He trailed off at the burning look of hatred that Ford shot at him.

"This was no accident, Stan! _You_ did this! You did this because you couldn't handle me going off to college on my own!" He yelled.

"Hey, this was a mistake!" Stan yelled back. He raised an eyebrow. "Although, if you think about it, this may have a silver lining. Treasure hunting?" He suggested.

"Are you kidding me?" Ford cried. "Why would I want to do anything with the person who sabotaged my entire future?" He shoved Stan down on the couch, where he was then picked up by the shirt by his father.

Mabel watched in horror, unable to do anything as Filbrick shoved Stan out the door, yelling about never coming back until he had made a million dollars.

Tears filled her eyes. "Why would I dream this?" She whimpered as the scene faded, leaving her floating in darkness.

"Because you have to prevent it." A voice said out of the darkness. Mabel looked around wildly, but if anyone was there, they didn't show themselves.

"Who's there?" She called. "Bill?"

"No, I'm your conscience." The voice said. Mabel blinked.

"My conscience?" She asked, turning around and around to try to find someone.

"Yeah, your conscience." The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Mabel couldn't put her finger on it. "You need to prevent this from happening. Stop Stanley Pines from breaking Stanford's device." The voice told her. "Do not tell your brother or your friends about it. This is a mission you must complete alone."

"Why? If you're really my conscience, you must like friends, just like me, which means you can't be my conscience because you don't want me to tell my friends." She crossed her arms. "I don't keep secrets, especially not from Dipper."

The voice heaved an annoyed sigh. "You have to, Mabel. Dipper would never agree to something like this."

Mabel hesitated. "You're right, he wouldn't." She said. "But I don't like keeping secrets from people..." She muttered.

"Obviously you do, otherwise I wouldn't want you to." The voice reasoned. Mabel crossed her arms.

"I'll think about it." She said finally. "Now can I wake up?" She asked.

"Er... Yeah, sorry." The voice said. She heard a snap, and then she shot up, back in the bedroom once again.

"Now that the seed is planted, Shooting Star is sure to go along with the plan!" Bill cackled, floating around Mabel's head, invisible to the rest of the room. "This is working out even better than I had hoped!"

* * *

So, yep. That's how Bill is in there. But who summoned him there? *Waggles eyebrows* you'll find out soon! Anyway, I hope you liked how I brought Bill into the story, and the chapter!

Also, next chapter might be a bit later. I cut my finger and it hurts to type so I might need a bit of a break from writing for a bit. Sorry about that! Anyway, hope you enjoyed!


	5. Grunkles

Hey guys! Thanks to everyone who wished me well... My finger is feeling a bit better, but it was absolute hell to type this out, so I'm super sorry if there are any errors or anything. Hopefully my finger will feel better by next week, but right now it's sore and stinging and it's not good...

Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and follows and favorites! I grin so widely every time I open my email bc I see so many favorites and follows and it's just great. Thanks everyone!

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

It was two weeks later when the trio agreed that it was time to reveal themselves to the Stans. Mabel, who had wanted to try it two days after meeting them, was overjoyed.

"Finally!" she cheered, pulling on a purple Mickey Mouse shirt. "I've been waiting so long!"

"You've been waiting two weeks," Dipper corrected her. "and it's better that we waited. If we had told them too early, and they didn't believe us, we'd be stranded." he pointed out. Mabel rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I know," she relented. "I just wanna get home. Staying with Carla is nice and all, but the couch isn't exactly a comfortable place to sleep."

"I offered you the bed," Dipper said, pulling on a plain black tee shirt. "Don't worry. Now that we know the Stans so well, I'm sure they'll believe us."

"Yeah, they definitely will!" Mabel grinned into the mirror, where she was brushing her hair. "I can't wait to go back home. I miss having cell service!" she said sadly.

"Yeah, me too. I miss my car," he said, lacing up his sneakers. "Let's go."

They walked out of the guest room, and into the main room, where Pacifica was standing, wearing her Juke Joint uniform and holding two lunchbags. Dipper and Mabel had flat-out refused to eat the school lunches after the second day, when the lunch had something that looked like an eyeball in it. Dipper, who had been fresh out of his Bill nightmare, had almost screamed.

Fortunately for him, he hadn't had any more Bill dreams since that one, which basically confirmed to him that it was just that-A dream. Mabel, on the other hand, had had the same dream every night since then, but she still hadn't told anyone, sure that they would prevent her from stopping Stan.

"Thanks, Paz," Dipper said, grabbing his lunch bag and heading out the door, towards the bus stop. Mabel followed him.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Mabel asked, sitting down on the bus stop bench. Dipper sat next to her, pulling on his hat.

"I've been thinking about that, actually. How about we say we have to talk to them after school, and bring them to the Juke Joint, and then we tell them?" he suggested. Mabel shrugged.

"The Juke Joint is usually pretty crowded, and we'll probably need to show them my phone or something to convince 'em," she said. "How about the swingset on the beach? That's usually pretty deserted."

Dipper's face lit up. "Yeah, and the Stans love that place! Good idea, Mab," he said, just as the bus rounded the corner.

They climbed on, completely sure of the fact that this was going to be a very long day.

School, which normally crawled along like molasses, went by even slower than usual. Dipper and Mabel, who really wanted school to just end so they could get it over with, were going out of their minds by the time their last class came: History.

Mabel usually loved history. Mabel usually studied history obsessively, learning every little tidbit that she could so that she could tell everyone that she could. That day, Mabel couldn't wait to get out of History class.

The clock that was mounted on the wall had to have been broken, because Mabel had never seen a clock move so slowly before. The teacher droned on, unaware that two of her students were desperate to leave the class, and the clock's hands crawled slowly towards 2:30.

2:27. Dipper's leg was bouncing, eager to hop out of his seat and find the Stans.

2:28. Mabel was anxiously biting her lip, worried that maybe the plan wouldn't work after all, and the Stans wouldn't believe them.

2:29. Dipper and Mabel glanced at each other every few moments, and both knew that their worries were shared by the other.

2:30. The bell rang, and Dipper and Mabel both shot up from their seats, and were out the door before anyone else could even stand up.

"Let's go wait outside. We can watch for them from there," Dipper said, leading Mabel through the growing crowd of people.

They got outside, and jumped up to sit on the short stone wall that surrounded the schoolyard, watching over the heads of their classmates for the familiar brown hair of their great-uncles.

"There!" Mabel cried, pointing. Dipper looked, and saw the two Stans walking out, laughing. "Stan! Ford!" she called, waving her arms. The twins looked up, and, noticing her, smiled and walked over.

"What's up, Mabel?" Stan asked, emerging from the crowd before his brother.

"Hey, guys," Ford said, readjusting his glasses and he pushed his way around a group of football players.

"Well..." Dipper started. It was now or never. He took a deep breath, and then continued, "We need to talk to you guys. It's really important," he said, jumping down from the wall.

Ford frowned. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Dipper shook his head.

"Not with you guys!" he said quickly, not wanting them to get the wrong impression. "But yes, there is something wrong. We really need to talk to you," he said, his voice taking on a pleading tone.

Mabel nodded fervently, her short hair bobbing up and down. "It's super important. We need your help with something," she added.

"Sure," Stan said, shrugging. "Whaddaya need help with?"

Dipper ran a hand through his hair. "It's... Sorta a secret. Can we go somewhere less crowded?" he asked. Ford frowned at Dipper, looking at him quizzically.

"Dipper, is everything alright?" he asked seriously. Dipper shook his head.

"Not really," the boy answered. Ford grimaced.

"Then let's go," he said. "I know a place we can go where it'll be quiet." He turned and led them through the crowd, towards the school gates, and then took a sharp left once they were outside of them.

He led them towards the beach, and then they stopped at the entrance to a cave. Stan grinned.

"Aw, man, I remember this place!" He beamed. Ford nodded.

"I figured it would be a good place to talk," Ford said, leaning against the cave wall. "Now, what's going on?"

Dipper hesitated, so Mabel started for him. "We're... We're not from here," she started. "We're from a place in Oregon called Gravity Falls, and we need your help to get back, because we can't go back, because the Gravity Falls that's there is a different Gravity Falls than the one we belong in and-"

"What my sister is _trying_ to say," Dipper sent a pointed look at Mabel, who rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "is that... Well... We're from the future," he said quickly, releasing a breath afterwards, feeling much better now that it was off his chest.

Ford and Stan's eyes widened. "Huh?" Ford raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But that's impossible!"

"It's actually not..." Dipper muttered. "Also, as if this wasn't complicated enough... You're our great-uncles." he added. Stan burst out laughing.

"Dipper, I didn't take you for the kind of kid to play a prank, but you're actually good at it! You had me for a second there!" he said, chuckling. Dipper frowned.

"I'm not lying," he said, trying to look as serious as possible. "We can prove it, too. Mabel," He turned to his sister, who nodded and began digging in her purse.

"Dipper, how are we supposed to believe you?" Ford asked, running a hand through his hair in a similar fashion to Dipper. "Time travel is impossible,"

"I know, we thought so too, but something in your house sent us, plus our friend Pacifica, back here," Dipper crossed his arms as Mabel went, "Aha!" and pulled her phone out of her purse.

"Alright..." she muttered, turning on her phone and bringing it to the gallery app. "Here it is!" She turned the screen around, showing a picture of the two of them, plus the older Grunkles taking a selfie. Mabel had taken it after they had defeated Bill during Weirdmageddon, and had treasured it ever since.

"Woah..." Ford gazed at the picture, although he seemed more impressed with the phone itself rather than the fact that the picture showed him, except older. "Where'd you get such advanced technology?"

"Is that us? Why am I so old?" Stan asked, squinting at his older self. "Heh, I don't look too bad!"

"This picture was taken on August 31st, 2012," Dipper said, crossing his arms. "Do you believe us now?"

"I..." Ford looked at Dipper. "This doesn't prove anything! This could just be a picture frame with lights behind it!"

Mabel grinned, and pressed the home button, turning the screen back to her apps page. Her background, which was a sparkly picture of a kitten, gazed at them through the screen.

"I can move it! Look, I have games!" Mabel tapped the Minecraft app, and showed off the castle that she had been building since she was thirteen.

"That's incredible!" Ford marveled, tapping the screen. "You really are from the future!" he looked up at Dipper, who nodded.

"And we have no idea how to get back..." he admitted. "Which is why we came to you."

"You're, like, the smartest people we know!" Mabel said. "At least, you're going to be, so we figured you might be able to figure something out."

"Wait, I'm smart, too?" Stan asked, looking apprehensive. Mabel nodded.  
"Yeah! You singlehandedly fixed and powered a portal to other dimensions! Plus, you basically led the entire revolution against the leader of the Apocalypse..." Mabel grinned at Stan.

"A portal to other dimensions?" Ford asked, his eyes wide. Dipper nodded.  
"Yeah, it basically becomes your life work," Dipper purposely left out the fact that he'd eventually get sucked into it, scared to affect the timeline too much. He ran a hand through his hair. "You don't have to help us if you don't want to, but you're the only person we could think of who might have a chance of getting us home," he said.

Stan crossed his arms. "You're Sherman's grandkids?" he asked. Dipper and Mabel nodded, and Stan let out a breath. "I'm a great-uncle?"

"Actually, we call you our Grunkles," Mabel told him. "So, can you help us?" she asked, looking between the two with pleading eyes.

"I-I guess I can try... I can't promise anything, though," Ford said finally. "Oh man... I never would have guessed that the reason we act so much alike is because we're _related_..." He shook his head.

"Am I a good Grunkle?" Stan asked Mabel, seemingly happy with the fact that he turned out alright. Mabel nodded vigorously.

"Yeah you are! I remember, during the first summer we stayed with you, you punched zombies in the face to save us!" she told him. Stan laughed.

"Hear that, Ford? Zombies!" he seemed very excited. Dipper shook his head.

"Mabel, we really shouldn't reveal too much about the future to them. You never know what it might change." he told her. He didn't notice that she shuffled nervously when he said that.

"I know... I just can't believe they believe us!" She grinned happily. "With the Grunkles on our side, not even geometry can stop us?"

"What?" Ford asked, looking confused. "Why would geometry stop you?"

Dipper shook his head. "Nice one, Mabel," he sighed. "There's sort of an evil demonic triangle that terrorized us when we were twelve. You guys killed him, though, so it's better now, but he sorta messed us up." he explained, trying not to give too much away.

"Our lives sound exciting..." Ford said, sounding shell-shocked. Dipper nodded, smiling.

"You don't know the half of it."


	6. Ice Cream and Triangular Dreams

Hey everyone! My finger is feeling much better, thankfully... So enjoy the chapter!

*Gravity Falls belongs to Alex Hirsch*

* * *

In the end, Dipper and Mabel ended up inviting the Stans for some ice cream at the Juke Joint, so that they could meet Pacifica and tell Ford a bit more about what had happened.

The Stans, who didn't seem to understand that Dipper didn't want to reveal too much about the future, kept asking questions about what the future was like and what they turned out like and Mabel, who didn't seem to understand that Dipper was going to be very angry with her later, kept answering them.

"So I'm a paranormal scientist?" Ford asked, looking excited. "That sounds pretty cool."

"You also wrote a journal that Dipper found and became obsessed with," Mabel told him. Dipper rolled his eyes.

"I was not _obsessed_ with it..." he said, glaring at Mabel. Mabel laughed, poking Dipper in the stomach.

"Don't lie, bro. You took it everywhere, using it for everything..." Mabel looped an arm around her brother's shoulders as they walked into the Juke Joint.

"So I'm an author, too?" Ford raised an eyebrow. "Not bad..."

"And I'm a conman!" Stan seemed more than happy with the outcome of his life. "With a famous tourist trap filled with fakes! Ha!" He punched the air, and Ford rolled his life.

"A tourist trap that _was_ my house," Ford said, looking slightly annoyed that Stan would eventually come to take over his house. "How did Stan get my house, anyway?"

Mabel froze, and then shook her head. "You, uh, went on vacation and liked it so much that you stayed, so you gave Stan the house!" she lied quickly, putting on her most convincing smile. Ford raised his eyebrows.

"Hmm... So I'm going to live somewhere tropical?" He smiled. "Cool."

Dipper released a breath as they sat down, and Pacifica ran over to their table upon spotting them.

"Hey, guys," she said, grabbing a couple of menus and handing them to them. "So, uh, did it work?"

"Yeah," Dipper said, "they know."

Pacifica breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God! I think if I have to hear _one_ more person say 'groovy' or 'far out' I'll scream."

"So, you're from the future too?" Ford asked. Pacifica nodded.

"Yep! Pacifica Northwest, at your service," She held out her hand and Ford shook it. "Nice to meet you. Now, what do you guys want to eat?"

They all ordered the same thing, the Cosmic Sundae, and Pacifica walked off to go give their orders to the chef.

Stan opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then closed it quickly, staring at a point off to Dipper's right. Dipper turned, and then his eyes widened in understanding.

Carla stood a few feet away from them, waiting on a different table in all her hotpants-y glory. Dipper looked back at Stan, who had a bit of a blush on his face.

"Who's that?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably. Ford shrugged.

"I think her name is Carla," he said, scribbling down something in a notepad. "So, you said the thing that sent you back here was in my house? Could you describe it?"

"Yeah, it was blue, and in a jar. It was like putty, sort of, but a bit more runny, and once it touched me everything started turning black and white and then when I touched Dipper and Paz it started for them too," Mabel said. Ford nodded.  
"It must've been some sort of chemical, then..." he muttered, scribbling quickly. "I've never heard of a chemical that can do that, though." He began biting his pen, and Mabel grinned when she noticed.

"Dipper, look! That's where you got that from!" she whispered to him. Dipper smiled, happy to have another thing in common with his idol.

"Here you go," a new voice said. Dipper looked up, and saw Carla, carrying a tray that held four ice creams. "Hello, by the way."

"Hi, Carla!" Mabel grinned. "Nice to see ya!"

"You too, Mabel. And who are you?" She turned to the Stans. Stan choked, almost dropping his spoon as his face turned red, and Ford looked up from his notebook.

"I'm Stanford, and this is my brother Stanley," Ford said, nodding at Carla.

"Uh, hi," Stan said, crossing his arms and trying to pretend he hadn't just almost choked. Carla giggled, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

"Nice to meet you," she said, nodding. "Well, I have to get back to work, but I'll see you guys later, okay?" she said to Dipper and Mabel.

"Yeah, see ya," Dipper said as Mabel waved.

"So, I'll try to look into all of this," Ford said, waving his notepad. "but it might take some time... I'll have to experiment with different chemicals and research quantum theories and-"

"It's fine," Dipper cut him off, holding up a hand to stop him. "We understand. We're from, what, 60 years from the future? We don't even understand this." He smiled. "I might be able to help a bit, though..." He pulled out his phone and held it out. "I have years worth of research on here, plus all of my essays from college and everything," he said. Ford's eyes widened, his face shining with excitement.

"That little thing can hold that much information? Incredible! It'll be a great help," He frowned. "I have to work on my presentation for West Coast Tech too, though..." he muttered. Stan fidgeted uncomfortably, although no one but Mabel noticed. "Let's meet tomorrow after school. I'll do as much research as I can tonight," he decided finally.

Dipper nodded. "Alright," he said, scooping up the last bit of his ice cream. "See you tomorrow,"

That night, Dipper fell asleep feeling much better than he had for the last few weeks. Unfortunately, his mood was about to change drastically.

He dreamed about an empty field, with nothing but an ashy gray sky to see. He looked around.

"Not again..." he muttered, crossing his arms. "Bill! If you're here, show yourself!" he yelled.

A bone chilling laugh echoed through the field, and Dipper shivered despite his best efforts not to.

"I see you didn't understand what I said last time," Bill appeared in front of Dipper, his hands clasped behind his back. "Stay out of my way."

"No way! No matter what you do, I won't stop!" Dipper protested, glaring at the demon. Bill chuckled.

"Heh, silly Pinetree. You really think you can stop me?" Bill narrowed his eye. "Nothing can stop what I have planned!"

"We stopped you once!" Dipper pointed out. "We can do it again!"

"Oh, Pinetree, how cute. You're so confidant! Too bad it's already too late. Even if you won't stay out of my way, I've already got another pawn ready to set my plans into action!" His eye narrowed in glee. "You can't stop me!"

Dipper's eyes widened. Who was the pawn? "Go away!" he screamed. "You're not real!"

'I think you'll find that I'm more real than you think," Bill said.

Dipper shook his head, mumbling, "It's not real," over and over again, until he realized someone was shaking him. He opened his eyes slowly, and saw Mabel, standing over him with a concerned expression on her face.

"Dipper!" she cried, relieved when he finally woke up. She looped her arms around his neck. "You were yelling but you weren't waking up and I couldn't think of what to do and then-"

"Mabel, calm down!" Dipper said, patting her back softly. "I'm okay, I think..." he sat up and told her about his dream.

Mabel grimaced, crossing her arms. "So, I guess the first one really was real..." she muttered. "This isn't good."

"Should we warn the Stans?" Dipper asked. "If Bill can't get to us he might try to go after them."

Mabel nodded. "It might be a good thing to do," she agreed, crossing her arms over her chest nervously. "We'll tell them tomorrow,"

"Bill said he had a pawn, someone who would help him set his plans into action..." Dipper muttered, looping his arms around his knees. "How're we supposed to know who it is?"

Mabel shook her head. "I don't know..." she said quietly, wondering whether or not she should tell her brother about the weird dreams she had been having.

Dipper looked out the window, and Mabel decided that she probably shouldn't. "Go back to sleep, Mabel," he whispered. "We'll wake up Pacifica if we don't." He glanced at Pacifica, who was snoring peacefully.

"I'm surprised she didn't wake up when you were yelling," Mabel commented, climbing onto the couch.

"No, you take the bed," Dipper said. "I'm not going back to sleep. I don't think I can," he said. Mabel frowned.

"Okay..." she said. "Just... Try to at least rest, okay?" She frowned at her brother in concern, and Dipper smiled.

"Alright," he said. "I'll try,"

Ford sat at his desk despite the late hour, his lamp blazing brightly. He scribbled on a piece of paper, and then read a passage from a book, and then wrote some more, and then read some more.

"Go to sleep, Sixer," Stan groaned from his bed. Ford shook his head.

"I'm on the verge of a breakthrough, Lee. I'm almost done," Ford replied, trying not to yawn. Stan sighed.

"I can't sleep with that light on," Stan protested, then yelped as something hit him in the face. He looked at it closer, and then rolled his eyes. "I don't wanna wear this stupid mask!" he said, glaring at the sleep mask in his hands. Ford sighed.

"I'm working, Stanley. You either sleep with the mask or stay awake with the light."

Stan crossed his arms. "You have to go to sleep sometime," he said. "You'll end up with bags under your regular bags again."

Ford rolled his eyes. "I seem to remember you found that amusing," he pointed out. Stan leaned over the edge of his bed, looking down at his brother from the top bunk.

"Yeah, but deep down I was worried," he admitted. "You need sleep, Ford. You can work more on that with Dipper tomorrow,"

Ford sighed again, but the sigh quickly grew into a yawn. He rubbed his eyes and then finally nodded.

"Alright, fine, you win," he relented, standing up and shoving a piece of scrap paper into his book to save his place. He climbed into his bed and shut off the light.

"Night, Sixer," Stan said from above him, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Night, Lee."

* * *

Man, I love writing Ford. And Bill. They're so much fun to write! Hopefully you enjoyed!


	7. Slight Hiatus

Hey guys... I'm super sorry but there won't be a chapter this week. I've been busy all week, so I haven't had time to write it, and now I've got a ton of essays to write and barely any time to write them... I'm so sorry about this. Maybe I'll be able to post it on Wednesday, if I can figure out some time to do it. Anyway, thanks for understanding!

`Sadie`


	8. A Peaceful Day at the Beach

Hey guys! Slightly early update this week bc I'm going to be busy tomorrow until Tuesday. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

When Mabel woke up the next morning, she was met with the sight of her brother lying on the couch in a very unnatural position. His head was leaning against the wall, his neck kinked at an odd angle. A blue journal sat in his lap, and a discarded pen sat on top of it, as if Dipper had been writing but then fallen asleep and dropped the pen.

She sat up, careful not to disturb the peacefully slumbering Pacifica, and leaned over the edge of the bed to nudge Dipper, gently at first, but gradually becoming more forceful as he refused to wake up.

"Dipper!" she cried. Dipper finally began to stir, and his brown eyes opened just the slightest bit, squinting in the sunlight streaming in from the window.

"W-Wha...? Mabel?" He groaned, sitting up. The journal hit the floor as he shifted, and then he winced. "Gah, my neck..." he hissed.

"You fell asleep against the wall," Mabel explained. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think," he said, cracking his neck. "hurts, though. 'M glad it's Saturday."

"Did you... Did you have any more dreams last night?" Mabel asked, fidgeting with the hem of her nightgown's skirt. She had had yet another of the disturbing dreams that had been haunting her that night, and, at that point, was seriously considering telling Dipper about it. The only thing stopping her was the fact that she knew he'd try to stop her.

"No. I think he's gone again," Dipper said, standing up and stretching with a groan. "Now we have to tell the Stans, though."

Mabel nodded. "We'll go to the swingset after we get dressed. Bring your phone," she said, rubbing sleep out of her eyes as she pulled off her nightgown and went in search of a shirt.

Pacifica woke up a few minutes later, and then, once they were all dressed and briefed on what they would be doing on that day, they set out.

The walk to the beach from Carla's house was a short one, and Dipper and Mabel walked in knew that the Stans would be there; they had told them about their hidden beach hideout a few days after they had met.

Dipper looked at his sister out of the corner of his eyes. She was acting quieter than usual, staring at her pink sneakers as they walked. There hadn't been a single outburst about something sparkly that she noticed for at least three days at that point, and, quite frankly, it unnerved Dipper to no end. The last time he had seen his sister so somber and quiet was after Ford had offered Dipper an apprenticeship all those years ago.

Mabel didn't notice her brother looking at her, too involved in her own thoughts. Her mind was warring with her heart, and it wasn't very fun, to say the least. Her mind rationally thought that maybe she should tell Dipper about the dreams she had been having, considering they were being pursued by a _dream_ demon, but her heart replayed the images from her dreams, and the hurt look on her great-uncle's face after Ford punched him upon coming back through the portal. She was so conflicted and lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice that they had made it to the beach until Stan called out a greeting to them.

While Stan had a big grin on his face, Ford was sitting on the swings, looking half asleep, with large black bags under his eyes. It actually reminded Mabel of someone else she knew.

Dipper noticed, too, because he frowned. "You okay?" he asked, leaning against one of the poles of the swingset. Ford nodded, but then he yawned, giving away his sleepiness.

"Sixer over here stayed up for most of the night researching," Stan rolled his eyes. "By the time I got 'im to go ta bed, it was at least three in the morning."

Dipper winced in sympathy, and Mabel burst out laughing.

"I can't even begin to count how many times Dip-Dop has done that!" she laughed. "I guess it must run in the family,"

Dipper rolled his eyes. "Ha-ha," he crossed his arms. "Did you find anything?" he asked Ford.

Ford shook his head. "I almost did. Unfortunately, someone, and I'm not naming names here, kept me from researching and forced me to go to sleep," he coughed then, something that sounded a lot like "stanley".

Stan rolled his eyes, crossing his arms and giving Ford a look that clearly said, "You should thank me for it,"

"Well, I charged my phone last night, so you can look through my essays and stuff and see if there's anything useful in there," Dipper said. He was actually very hopeful about that, considering he had written a few theses on quantum theory himself.

He handed to phone to Ford, and Ford held it gingerly, looking into the screen with wide eyes filled with wonder. "H-How do I use it?" he asked as Stan leaned over his shoulder to see.

"Well, you just tap this, and then it should bring up an e-reader," Dipper explained. Mabel watched, feeling half excited at the prospect that maybe this would help them get home, but half left out. She couldn't think of a way to help, and, for a girl who lived off of helping people and making them smile, that wasn't a good thing. She leaned over Dipper's shoulder, watching as he explained how to open files. It was almost like teaching a grandparent how to use a phone.

"How does it store all this information?" Ford asked, marveling at the incredible amount of files Dipper's phone held.

"Compared to Mabel's phone, this is nothing," Dipper waved it off flippantly. "I have no idea to this day how she managed to fit so many games on a phone with such little space,"

"Just call it my Mabel Magic!" Mabel grinned, happy that she was finally included in the conversation.

"You have games on your phone?" Stan asked, his interest piqued. Mabel nodded, pulling her phone out of her purse. The glittery case shined in the bright sunlight, capturing her attention like it did every time she used her phone in bright sunlight. Dipper watched her, smiling. He must've been wrong earlier. Mabel seemed just fine.

She turned on her phone, smiling at the background of her and Dipper taking a selfie. "These are all of my games," she said, swiping through menu after menu of games.

Stan gazed at it, awe shining in his eyes. "So, it's like a portable arcade? Cool," he watched as Mabel clicked on her favorite game, Flappy Bird.

"Wanna try?" Mabel asked. This particular game always made Dipper super frustrated, and she figured it would be the same way with Stan. She handed him the phone, hiding her mischievous thoughts behind a kind smile, secretly glad for the distraction from her conflicting thoughts.

"Sure," Stan said, taking the phone.

"You just tap it to make the bird flap its wings," Mabel explained. "It's easy!" she lied, hoping that her face couldn't show that she was lying.

Stan seemed to buy it, because he nodded and tapped the screen. The bird flapped once, twice, and then hit the ground face-first with a funny _splat_ sound. Stan growled..

"Alright, bird, that's it. You're gonna cooperate," Stan said, mostly to himself. Mabel giggled. Her plan was working.

"Mabel, don't make Stan play that awful game," Dipper said, not even looking up from where Ford had produced a pile of books and papers and the two were reading through them. "It's impossible to win,"

"Oh yeah? How come I've got a super-duper high score, then?" Mabel asked smugly, smirking as Stan let out another growl of frustration.

"Is this a normal game? Are all the games this frustrating?" Stan asked. "Because I'm about three seconds away from throwing this thing into the ocean."

With a small shriek, Mabel snatched her phone back, and clutched it tightly against her chest. "No!" she yelled. "Mine!"

Dipper burst out laughing as Stan looked at her with a shocked face and a slack jaw. Mabel blushed.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "Just... Don't throw my stuff in the ocean!" She looked away from Stan, and back down to her phone, where she closed Flappy Bird and went in search of an easier game.

It was about an hour later, when, after seeing Stan draw random triangles on the sketchpad app, Mabel finally remembered what they were going to tell them.

"Dipper!" she cried. "We haven't told them about Bill yet!"

Dipper's head shot up, and he smacked his forehead. "That's right!" he said. Ford looked at him from over the top of a thick book, one eyebrow raised.

"Who's Bill?" he asked, putting down the book, his full attention on Dipper. Dipper sighed.

"It's a _super_ long story, but he's basically a demonic Dorito with a bad attitude and a tendency to constantly annoy Pines," Dipper explained.

"He pretty much caused the Apocalypse, and trapped me in a bubble with technicolor boys and giant waffles!" Mabel added. Stan gave her a funny look, but she didn't notice, too involved in memories. "And Dippy Fresh!" she added as an afterthought.

"I... I don't even want to know what a 'Dippy Fresh' is," Stan said. Dipper sighed.

"You _really_ don't," he agreed. "Anyway, in the future that we're from, Bill is dead, but he's not dead in this time. He's been plaguing my dreams, telling me to stay away from you guys so his plans can work,"

"That's... A bit unsettling. Why are we a part of his plans?" Ford asked. Dipper and Mabel shared a look of fear, unsure if they should tell the truth or not.

"Well.. You probably wouldn't like the truth," Mabel said. "It's not very happy."

Stan frowned. "Does someone die or something?" he asked. Dipper shook his head.

"No, it's not like that!" he said hastily. "It's just... You guys aren't really that close anymore..." At the Stans horrified expressions, Dipper hastily added, "You become close again! Just... You're sorta separated. For a while. And Ford makes a deal with Bill and a lot of bad stuff happens..."

Ford and Stan looked at each other sadly, the thought, "How could we get separated?" running through both of their heads.

"I'm really sorry we had to tell you, but we were worried you might make a deal with Bill if we didn't,"

"What does he look like?" Stan asked, inching closer to his brother. Dipper opened his mouth, about to speak, but someone talked over him before he could get a word in.

"Funny you should ask!" someone yelled. There was a flash of bright white light, and suddenly everything was black and white.

Dipper, who had been through this many time before, simply went closer to his sister and held her hand in a calming way. Similarly, Ford and Stan scooted over until they were right next to each other.

"Well, well, well, looks like Pinetree can't follow orders!" Bill said, popping into view a few inches in front of Dipper's face. Mabel screamed, lashing out at the demon with her fist, but it simply bounced off the demon harmlessly.

"I wasn't going to follow them! I'd never do what you told me to do!" Dipper retorted, glaring angrily at Bill. Bill simply chuckled, turning his attention on Stan and Ford.

"Heh, didn't expect to see you for a while, Sixer! How're ya doin'?" Bill asked, hovering around Ford's head.

"Is this him, Dipper?" Ford asked, his eyes wide as Stan tried to swat at the demon. Dipper nodded, standing up.

"This is him," Dipper confirmed. "What do you want?" he asked Bill, glaring. Bill produced his cane out of thin air and leaned on it.

"Sorry, Pinetree, but your little rebellion didn't work! I'm just gonna wipe their memories anyway!" Bill laughed.

Dipper felt a tug on his shirt, and looked down at Mabel. "Isn't this the dreamscape?" she asked. "we can defeat him!"

Dipper nodded. "You're right." He turned to Ford and Stan, who were glaring at the triangle warily. "Guys! This is a place called the mindscape! Conjure things to defeat him with!"

Bill's eye widened, and Dipper realized that he must not have known that Dipper knew that. Dipper smirked at the demon's shocked expression, and helped Mabel to his feet. He waved his hand, and a gun the size of his arm appeared in front of him.

To say Ford was shocked was an understatement. He gazed, slack-jawed, as Dipper held up the gun and shot Bill in the face with what looked like Gummy Koalas.

Stan, on the other hand, got the hang of it quickly. He conjured a giant fist, and chucked it at Bill. His aim wasn't that good, but it hit Bill on the top of his head, sending the demon flying.

Mabel sent a volley of glowing pink kittens after him, and the kittens' angry yowls intermingled with Bill's pained ones.

Bill recovered quickly, though. He brushed off his hat before setting it back onto his angular head. "I'll admit, you surprised me for a second there. Too bad I can't be beaten!" he yelled the last word, and shot a beam of light from his finger. It shot right through Ford, who looked at his now empty stomach in horror and a flood of memories filled Dipper's head.

"Ford!" Stan cried. Once he was sure his brother was okay(Gutted, but okay), he turned a terrifying glare on Bill. "How _dare_ you!"

Dipper shivered as Stan sent volley after volley of horrifying items at Bill, ranging from spiked balls all the way to grenades. Bill, despite his claims of being all powerful, was pushed back considerably far by the weapons.

Dipper snapped out of his trance when Mabel joined in, choosing kittens and puppies and all sorts of other adorable things to throw at the demon. Dipper grinned, and suddenly he joined in the fight, shooting the sharpest thing he could think of at Bill; a volley of needles.

"That's ENOUGH!" Bill finally cried, and all of the weapons exploded in a blast of light, leaving nothing behind. Bill sighed, crossing his arms. "I can see you're not going to let me do that,"

"No way!" they all yelled. Bill narrowed his eye.

"Fine, for now I'll leave! But remember, I'm very persistent! My plans will work, but until then, I'll be watching you!" he drew out the _you_ as he disappeared with a flash of light.

Dipper shot up once he realized that Bill was gone, and he looked around. Ford was looking at his stomach, poking it gingerly, as if it would disappear again. Mabel was lying on her back, her eyes closed. Stan was sitting next to Ford, his arms crossed and his hands balled into tight fists.

"So..." Ford said, finally looking up. "That's what we're up against."

Dipper nodded, poking Mabel in the side to make sure she was okay. "Yeah. You have no idea how bad he can get. You have to be careful, he can posses you or anyone else he thinks can help him," Dipper said, shuddering as memories of being possessed flooded back into his mind once again.

Mabel sat up and swatted at her brother's hand. "Or give you nightmares, or bring your nightmares to life, or traumatize you. Either way, you're gonna get nightmares,"

"...We should get back to studying," Ford said. "The faster you two get home, the faster Bill will stop messing with us," he shifted, looking away from his stomach. "I just have one question, though," he said, looking a bit miffed.

"Yeah, what?"

"Did he call me 'sixer'?"

* * *

So, yeah, they'd better get to work. Hope you enjoyed!

`sadie`


End file.
